We met Charli in another lifetime when we toured with Disney on Ice as performers. In fact, that’s where she met her other half, Joe! These two people are probably a couple of the most gracious and beautiful people we have met and we were truly honored when they asked us to capture their special day for them!

They held their special day in Estepona, Spain at El Cortijo de los Caballos. We couldn’t believe how gorgeous this gem of a venue was! All of the beautiful trees, a stunning pool, and well manicured gardens surrounding all the rooms… It was truly breathtaking!

The wedding looked like it was straight out of Disney movie! Glittery heels, shiny rings, magnificentfloral arrangements,  extravagant bridesmaids/junior bridesmaid/flower girl dresses…

And the bride’s dress… Absolutely STUNNING. Charli’s dress came from Lula Ann Bridal and she had such a timeless classic look to her as she seemingly floated down the aisle!

The most amazing thing to see was the amount of love they have for each other and the amazing relationships they have cultivated with so many people in their lives. They are such wonderful people and  you can see how close they are with all those they meet. The location of their wedding was not only a destination location for their guests, but also for them. When you look at how many people were able to make it out to their wedding, people from all over the place (Canada, USA, Japan, Australia, and Europe), it was clear how loved they are. Even Joe’s grandparents and family who haven’t travelled in long time made that long haul from the US to Spain to join them in celebrating their big day. That speaks mountains about this truly amazing couple.

The wedding day went so smoothly and it was so great to work with such an amazing team of vendors!
Event Coordinator: Becky with Rachel Rose Weddings
Venue: El Cortijo De Los Caballos
Florist: Flor Valentin
Bridal Gown: Lula Ann Bridal
Hair Dresser and Makeup: Ella Megan Makeup Artist
Caterer: Sana Catering Marbella

We had such an amazing time photographing this amazing day!!

Aside from being insanely talented vocalists/instrument players and truly loving what their doing, their songs hold quite a bit of meaning and have very deep underlying messages. One song in particular strikes a cord with me: Let It Go.

I wanted to write about this today for a couple of reasons:

- There have been some things that have been weighing heavy on my heart lately.

- I think many people can relate to what it feels like to be burdened by certain situations.

I know this song definitely helps me settle my mind and put some things in perspective, so I hope that by sharing it and writing about it, it can do the same for you.

“Keep your heart above your head and your eyes wide open so this world can’t find a way to keep you cold. Know you’re not the only ship out on the ocean. Save your strength for things that you can change, forgive the ones you can’t. You gotta let it go.”

Thanks to these helpful lyrics along with the words of my close and dear friends around me, I have learned that there are certain things in your life that you will come by that you have no control of, people who will do you wrong, and people who’s true colors show when different circumstances arise.

Although the message is clear and simple, it is in no way an easy task. Being an incredibly sensitive soul, I can honestly say I can get very affected and hurt even though it may or may not be my fault. Thanks to those who care for me and are truly good people, I am able to  calm down a bit and understand what I need to think about.

In the end, you cannot control some people’s actions, you cannot change somebody unless they want to change, and you cannot stop life from happening. So, there is no use in worrying about the things you have no control over.

There’s simply only one thing you can do to free yourself from that burden of stress and anger:

 Let It Go

As a photographer and a skating coach, I see how important leadership is not only to my clients and students, but it is important amongst my peers.

Today, we often see people placed in “leadership” positions, but display actions that would suggest otherwise. Rather than leading, these people act more like “bosses” in that they would rather dictate than show, blame rather than accept, and take individual credit rather than revel in the success of the team.

I personally view a leader as someone who rides alongside their pack, creates unity within their team to accomplish a common goal, and inspires people to join in their cause.

Becoming a better leader is who I truly wish to become and in my journey towards that, I hope to inspire others to be the same.

Thanks to Google, you can find anyand every bit of advice you can possibly imagine out there. I recently dove head first into the world of photography without really knowing which direction I want to go in terms of what I want to focus on. I also recently started this blog to try and share my thoughts and experiences as a photographer. I also have really finally tried to dive back into becoming a skating coach as well even though I still have no idea what I want to focus on.

When I feel lost, I usually turn to my husband or my sister to guide me. Oh, and also my good friend Google… boy let me tell you… if there is anything that can confuse you more than you already are, Google, and the multitude of opinions out there sure can throw you into a tornado of confusion. The major bit of advice I got about being an entrepreneur and the only way to be successful at starting my own business was to “pick your focus” and decide which area in your field you really want to hone in your efforts… GREAT.

Now if you know me, trying to figure out “what I want to be” or deciding which type of photography I want to do, what kind of skating coach I want to be, or what kind of things I should write about on a blog is damn near impossible.

All the advice I gathered from all my research was that not picking a focus and saying you do it all is a clear indication of “being new to the industry” or it gives of an aura of being non-committal.

If anything, reading all this advice has given left me even more bewildered. Truth be told, I am all over the place and love doing more than just one thing, just ask my husband :)

One day while driving in the car, Brent and I were discussing our careers and I, once again, felt so lost. Trying to figure where in the world my passions lie, what the heck I need to write about in my blog, where was I going with coaching.

Then a simple yet thought provoking question came to mind… Why the heck do you need toonly focus on one thing? Who says that’s the only way to be successful? Does one formula work for all?

The answer is: NO.

Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some people who find their passion in one focused area, and that works for them… If you’re like me, you love doing more than just one thing. You have more than just one topic to love writing about. You don’t want to do what everybody else does… And it took me a while to realize that it’s OK. This is who I am and there lies my strengths.

Going back to a previous post I wrote about remembering your why, I just had to bring myself back to that. If I just do what I love and remember why I’m doing it, success will come. Passion will arise from the hard work I put into it…

So I have given myself a break. I’ve decided to just go with what I’m good at and what I enjoy doing. I love photographing life around me and capturing truth and pure emotion and allowing people to relieve those moments for years to come. I love passing on the knowledge and experiences I have gained over my many years of competing in the world of figure skating to the upcoming generation of dreamers in hopes that one day they can be a champion. And lastly, I love writing all of my experiences (not just in photography and travel) down and sharing them with my friends and family in hopes to INSPIRE, to LEAD, and to bring HOPE. To allow my readers a place to feel like they are not alone.

In the end, people may think that not focusing in one aspect of any of the fields I work in is self-destruction. I don’t believe it for one second (at least not anymore).

When is life EVER going in ONE direction? I don’t think that in this life-time or another, will we ever go in one direction. When we find our “calling” it may not just be ONE thing.

After much time and thought, I now am a full believer that our “calling” is not to be the best at one thing like we are lead to believe. I believe our calling is to make the best of what we have, adapt to the changes that life brings us, and to be the good we all expect others to be. There is no ONE path to success. There is not ONE formula that has proven to be.

So GO. Follow those who do good and lead those who want to learn. You don’t need to another writer, photographer, or coach to tell you what you love and what you don’t. As long as you remember why you’re doing it in the first place and that it comes from a good and honest place, success is right around the corner.

I had the priveledge of being the photographer this weekend at the Dr Pepper Starcenter Farmers Branch for one of the most inspiring events I’ve done in a while.

The Dallas Stars Foundation hosted this event alongside the National MS Society and the Southwest Wheelchair Athletic Association where they had Dallas Stars players, Jamie Benn (2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games Gold Medalist) and Tyler Seguin, and the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games Gold Medalist, Tyler Lipsett, play sled hockey with young children who suffer from different disabilities. 

Although I took hundreds of pictures at the event, there is one in particular that I am truly proud to share.

An inspiring athlete who worked against all odds his whole life to achieve greatness in his sport and proved beyond measure that nothing is impossible…

Here, I am proud to share a beautiful moment that one quick snap of my camera caught.

The passing of the torch to the new generation.

To see more photos from this incredible event, go to my website JoanCristobal.com under “Special Events.” 

I truly hope that it inspires you to believe in yourself… To never believe that you have limits…

To always have the strength to tell those who say it can’t be done, that NO was never an option.

Since this little one was born, I have loved having the privilege of being a big sister. Although many times may have not been easy, my role as big sister has been simple: love and protect.

Through the years, we have both been through changes that have altered our lives for the better. No matter where I am and no matter the distance, the bond between us only grows stronger as we grow individually. Even though I know that she is more than capable of living on her own, I will never stop loving and protecting my little sister. I am so proud of what she has become and has made for herself.

There has been nothing more fulfilling than embracing the role of big sister. If you have been honored with the gift of being an older sibling, never take that role for granted. The minute they come into your life you have been dealt the card of playing a role model and somebody’s hero.

The minute they come into your life, you instantly become somebody’s role model… A role you may never ask for, but one that is a privileged honor…

For you my friend, have become somebody’s hero ☺

I know when things get overwhelming, we all tend to worry about things that are completely out of our control. I always try to ask myself, “Is my worrying going to affect the outcome?”

If the answer is no, then I stop and try to remember this quote.
Happy Monday friends!!

This week, the news and social media have been inundated with quite a bit of tragedy and loss. From great celebrities like Robin Williams, to the people who we are directly involved with.

Regardless of how we lost them, there is different level of pain and sorrow that we all incur. Whether the loss causes emotional heartache or causes one to feel less safe in the world, there is a rift in our lives that can only heal with time and support.
It is with that that I want to strongly encourage my friends and family to reach out to those you love and let them know there is always somebody there for them.

Hug them, tell them you love them.

Remove the anger, fear, resentment, insecurities.

I have always believed that there is no reason anybody should feel alone in this world.

Reach out to those who you think are weird. Reach out to the ones who seem to be completely out of this world… we’re all different, but in the end, we all are human and all fight our own battles. You never know what a simple smile or a friendly wave can do to people. It’s that simple.

Life is precious. Life is much shorter than you think. All cliché sayings, I know, but… These statements come from a very humbling truth. You’re not alone in this world, so reach out and give that gift of companionship to somebody you love as well as to somebody who struggles to find it.

It’s the greatest gift one can give to another.

This week’s Monday Motivation quote always helps me get past these moments and just reminds me that every person that I look up to now wasn’t always as skilled or as experienced as they are now. When they started, they didn’t have everything they have now. The important thing to learn?

They started.

Happy Monday my friends!!

 

We all sometimes take these connections for granted or abuse the power that comes with such privileges.

This blog post came to me at an incredibly random time (I sometimes think I may have undiagnosed ADD…), but I had to stop and write it down before it ran away from me.

I wanted to take the time to reflect on my life and the relationships I have cultivated over my few years that I’ve been on this earth. I can definitely say that I have been fortunate enough to be able to write about it and have been able to come across a multitude of incredible and unique individuals that have made a difference in my life one way or another.

Although there are many who I haven’t spoken to in a long time, I had a compelling feeling within me to reach out to each and every one of those people that have walked with me in the past, who continue to walk with me in the present, and those who I will walk with in the future.

As simple as the following words may be, they come from the very depths of my imperfect heart and soul and are spoken with absolute truth and meaning:

• To those I have hurt in any way: I humbly apologize and beseech your forgiveness.

• To those who have hurt me: I forgive you.

• To those who I don’t reach out to enough: I cherish the time we spent together.

• To those who I consider my close friends and family: I love you more than you could ever imagine.

• To those who I will meet in the future: I can’t wait till our paths cross :)

Thanks to the ever growing popularity of social media, I have been able to connect with those who I haven’t seen or spoken to in many, many years. I absolutely LOVE getting to see where life takes everybody!

As I go through life creating more and more relationships, I like to remember those I’ve already had. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. Regardless of whether or not they’ve lasted, each and every single one of them have shaped me into the person I am today.

Same goes for you. Take some time to reflect on the relationships you’ve had and currently have.  You’d be amazed at how uplifting and emotionally opening it can be for you :)

THANK YOU FOR BEING A SIGNIFICANT PART OF MY LIFE!

This was a blog post that happened to be unnervingly easy to write, but I knew it would take more than just myself to actually post it. There are fears and unknowns that I have an incredibly difficult time sharing, but I felt that maybe some people felt the same way about certain aspects of their lives. Even though this post may be lengthy, it’s a piece that I hope you can read through and relate to.

So here it goes.

If you’re like me, you sometimes get caught up in having the newest gear, learning the newest techniques, comparing your work/abilities to another, doubting yourself because you don’t have the newest, top of the line equipment. You spend more time looking up the technical specs of the latest trends and trying to get your photos/work out there as fast as possible because if you don’t, you’ll never make it. “I just can’t get the right shot, there’s too much this, I don’t have enough of this, I can’t do it because I don’t have the experience, if I don’t get this many likes on my posts, I’m just not doing the right thing” Sound familiar?

Well, these are thoughts that have taken over my mind and spirit for the past couple months. I have gotten SO unbelievably caught up in the reasons I can’t do something that I have completely forgotten the reason I even started in the first place. As a photographer in a world where digital media, social media, and blogging has saturated the market place, it has been so easy to just take one look online and think, “What makes me think I can even get my foot in the door in this?! There is simply nothing special about what I have to offer!” With SO much out there, how can I even believe that I would even have a chance at creating all the beautiful images out there? How do I book clients when there are SO many photographers out there that are doing the exact same thing? What would make them hire me instead of somebody else out there who has been doing it forever?

Although the Internet has provided me with incredibly useful information and has contributed to enhancing my skills as a photographer, it has unfortunately fed into my increased self-doubt of my work. So much so that it had decreased my motivation to even learn more about my own camera and even go out and take photos. I didn’t want to ask questions anymore for fear of just getting absolutely annihilated by the competition.  I felt completely overwhelmed. I don’t have all the fancy gear and with everything being so incredibly expensive (which, they should be considering the amount of work it takes to even create that type of technology), how can I even advance? These photographers online have all this gear, while I have hardly any of it. What’s my edge? What is going to separate me from everybody else? My focus has become so honed in on trying to make a something of myself instead of just being myself.

I think we all do this to a certain extent. The reason I started even doing any kind of photography was because I just LOVED documenting the life around me and reliving those stories when I got to look back at them at a later time. My dad used to photograph everything as my sister and I grew up and today, we look back at all those photos and remember the emotions we had back then. These past few months, I haven’t even done any of that. I was so focused on getting the settings right, making sure the photos were perfectly composed, and that these were pictures I would be able to sell. With everything becoming so technical, I have admittedly become so overwhelmed that I actually ended up resenting going in and editing photos and even taking them. Because in my head, what was the point? They were pictures that weren’t technically right and would be heavily criticized because my shadows were too dark, the photo wasn’t sharp enough, or the lighting was way off.

 What was supposed to be a platform of an abundance of help and insight, the internet had fed into my insecurities and they have created a monster in which had caused me to become unmotivated to even try. I didn’t love it anymore! The worst part? It was all completely self inflicted. My point in writing this is not to be a diatribe about how modern technology is a hindrance or to say that we should never try to learn new and challenging things to widen our skill set; my point is to challenge not only you, but myself as well, to not allow all the tutorials and critiques to make you feel like your work is unacceptable. Whether it’s photography or whatever you love, don’t forget why you started doing it in the first place.

Today, I am remembering why I even decided to start up a business in photography.

It is because I loved reliving moments in time. I believed that photos are time machines. They take you back to places you never thought you could get back to. They are snapshots of people’s lives that allow you into their little bit of history. They show you how you got where you are today. I believed that one person could never have too many pictures. Life is so precious and so short, but I believe that we can extend it by reaching back into history and reliving the memories that we, and many others before us, have created.

There’s MAGIC in a photo. Not from the perfectly composed, perfectly lit photo that a $7,000 piece of equipment you had just purchased… I believe a photo has the power to bring to life a part of your existence that maybe your own brain couldn’t itself remember. It has the power to draw more than just a memory in your mind, but it can put you in touch with your spirit. It can bring people together… It can connect you to a world that has long passed… I truly believe that a photo can leave your mark on this world and I can leave a legacy for many generations to come. It is with THIS realization is when I dropped all the cares about having all of the fancy equipment and the best technique.

That magic I found when I first started taking photos is and WILL be why I will continue to take photos. It is with those beliefs where I know I can leave my mark on this earth.

THIS is why I started.

REMEMBER YOUR “WHY” :)